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Southampton defender Dan Seaborne has set his sights on returning to action before the end of the season as he steps up his recovery.

Seaborne was hospitalised with serious head injuries following an assault outside a city centre nightclub in early September and only returned to tentative training with Saints in late January.

The 25-year-old has now made three appearances for the club's development side as he builds up his fitness levels, completing another 90 minutes in the 2-1 defeat by Brighton on Tuesday afternoon.

The former Taunton player, who was a regular contributor during last season's promotion push from League One, is determined to feature with Nigel Adkins' side on course for back-to-back promotions.

Saints are currently five points clear at the top of the Championship with just seven games remaining and look well placed to be playing Premier League football next term.

Seaborne told the club's official website: "I'm very close now, I feel as though my feet are coming back and I'm very comfortable on the ball again and with clearances.

"I've got another game coming up and that was the plan for progress that the management and staff set for me, and I can't wait to be fit for selection now.

"My target is to get back into the squad and that's not changed since September 2. It's the first thing that I thought about, I actually thought it could be a lot sooner, but realistically it probably wasn't going to happen.

"I'm at a stage now where I don't think many people thought I would be so everything is a plus at the moment. I'm really happy to be this fit and feeling this good at the moment, and there's good times to come I think.

"It's at the business end of the season and my main aim is to get back into the squad. I think the lads have done fantastically, but I think I can add to that and that's what I aim to do."